Participation in Competitive Sports Closes Gender Gaps in Competition and in Risk Taking

Abstract

We compare the preferences of athletes who practice individual sports to those of non-athletes, by combining incentivized tasks and survey questions. Athletes were more likely to opt for the tournament payment scheme in the competitive tasks. Female athletes and male non-athletes were equally likely to select the tournament payment. We also find that female athletes were equally as risk-tolerant as non-athlete men and equally as risk-tolerant as men overall (whether athletes or non-athletes), for incentivized tasks and stated preferences. It is concluded that participation in competitive sports favors closure of the gender gaps in competitiveness and risk tolerance.